You were right. Immortals don't really change. Soul or not, he's still Spike. He fixates on someone. Decides they're gonna solve all his problems. Give his life meaning. Make him stop hating himself. But they don't. 'Cause they can't. And in the end, he drives 'em away. Confirming what he believes about himself. Letting him wallow in self-pity for a while. Then starts all over again.
Ain't like there's ever been much to the tosser. Catholic guilt and daddy issues, yawn. Look at you, boyo. You're pathetic. After all this time, all your talk of power and independence...you're still doing what your father tells you. Dancing like a puppet on a string to win his approval. Isn't that right, Liam?
Truth bombs!
This was an excellent issue. Seriously, I could barely find anything to bitch about, at least character-wise. The art is awesome, the writing delivers - go read it, it's great! Anyway...
I think that Spike and Angel were the real stars of this issue, and you know me, not a huge fan of those wankers but I do have to admit - they were awesome here. What I loved the most is that they acted like old friends who know each other very well and have an amazing insight into each other's issues. This is what allowed Spike to do what Buffy did to him in issue 15, that is, help Angel snap out of Archaeus influence. And can I just comment on how badass Spike was? Sword through the chest? You know what this tough son of a bitch does? Punches Angel in the face, takes out the blade. Total number of actual fs given: 0.0 ( "zero" ) Literally forked by the big bad? Please, it's nothing. On the top of that he got to slap Angel in the face! Angel was great as well - he genuinely thanked Spike for his help and totally gave him his blessings. They parted as real friends, with a handshake and I absolutely loved that!
Buffy and Angel. In my humble opinion Buffy/Angel as a romantic relationship is done. It's over. Do you know why? Because there is
no passion between them anymore. No, nothing dramatic whatsoever happened between those two but that's the point, isn't it? Look at their conversation:
Angel: I know there were some...bumps. But it was really good to see you again.
Buffy: I feel bad it took so long. I...missed you. I know things with us are never gonna be simple. But am I overreaching if I think we're both strong enough now to be part of each other's lives again?
Angel: I'd hate it if we weren't.
Buffy: So, me and Spike...?
Angel: All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. You seem like you are. I can live with that.
Focus on what Buffy says. Here's a translation:
Let's just be friends, Angel. Now, compare it to some of Buffy's angst-ridden lines about Angel from the past ( like this one for example:
seeing Angel in LA...even for five minutes...hello to the pain. I know it's nuts, but...part of me believes that real love and passion have to go hand in hand with pain and fighting ) and you will certainly notice a staggering difference in the emotional intensity. And the kiss? That was a friend kiss, it's how Buffy kisses Xander. Friends, "Chosen" the sequel did not happen, the infamous love triangle has been, in my humble opinion, officially concluded. I mean, look at the cover.
Willow. I love it when Buffy and Willow fight evil together because they make such a great team and this issue delivered, I very much enjoyed those panels. Willow also got to fry some vampires ( I'm with Dawnie here -
Yay! ) and call Andrew an idiot because somehow I didn't love her enough already. Her conversation with Angel was interesting as well - those two have really gotten close, haven't they? As was Angel's conversation with Xander with another parallel involving Summers women. Andrew? Well, he and Angel just shared an epic fist bump!
What else? Jokes about Michael Bay's writing when you're writing a Buffy comic?
Dude. Speaking of - if restless door can be fixed why wasn't the same possible with the old seed, huh? Anyway...that's it, once again, I loved the art, the battle looked incredible and now that the set-up for the rest of the season is seemingly done can we please have some issues focusing on Giles, Xander, Willow and Dawn? Then it's time for some dying but with a line like this...
But I've lived a long time, and never seen a happy ending. My experience...it's the happiness that always ends.
...you know that it's a given!